


One and Only

by msred



Series: Puckleberry Shuffle [11]
Category: Glee
Genre: Adele – Freeform, F/M, Finchel break-up, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-13
Updated: 2012-06-13
Packaged: 2017-11-07 16:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/433105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msred/pseuds/msred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So I dare you to let me be your, your one and only/I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms/So come on and give me the chance/To prove I'm the one who can/Walk that mile until the end starts"</p><p>In almost the same moment that Rachel realized first loves don't always last forever, she realized that while one sweet but simple boy didn't want to follow after her while she followed her dreams (and she was now strangely okay with that), there was another, not-always-so-sweet and always-complicated boy who might.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One and Only

**One and Only – Adele ~ {www[dot]youtube[dot]com/watch?v=x4r-c4I_9Rc}**

"'Sup, Irish?"

"Is that really the most original nickname you can come up with, Puck?" Rory tilted his head and regarded his friend mock-seriously.

"Nope," Puck drained the cup of punch that Rachel had abandoned when she went to the restroom. He idly wondered what on earth she could be doing in there for the past two and a half songs, but whatever. She made it perfectly clear that this 'Prom on a Budget: Take II' thing was a friends-only situation. ( _'We're graduating soon Noah. Sam, Mercedes, and I had a lovely time last year, and I don't see the point in wasting much-needed funds on things like an expensive dress and dinner and a limo when they aren't necessary to have fun. I insist that you be our fourth; you need to be watching your budget too, you know. Besides, you'll be a much better non-date than Jesse, I know it.'_ )

"But it's the least offensive." He smirked when he looked back up the exchange student.

"Whatever," Rory rolled his eyes. He knew that though Puck insisted that he was 'badass,' he was not a bad guy. "Santana sent me over here to tell you, quote, 'Fish Lips' song is half over and I'm up next. You've got until about the second line to get Berry on the dance floor before I come relieve you of your balls and do it myself,' end quote."

Puck grinned. It was hard not to, hearing Satan's words comin' out in that funny little accent. He gave the smaller boy a mock-salute when he stood from his chair, "Aye aye, captain." He couldn't help but notice that Rory looked a little relieved as he nodded and hurried away to find Brittany. Puck wasn't sure if the boy was scared of him or Santana, but he figured they were both worthy of the reaction.

He had no problem asking Rachel to dance (although he didn't know what the fuck Satan's problem was, straight-up demanding it like that), but he couldn't seem to find her. He heard Evans's song draw to a close just as he spotted her on the other side of the gym, talking to Mercedes and Kurt and some girl he kind of recognized from the biology class he and Rachel shared.

**_You've been on my mind  
I grow fonder every day,  
Lose myself in time  
Just thinking of your face  
God only knows  
Why it's taken me so long  
To let my doubts go  
You're the only one that I want_ **

Rachel felt only a little badly about leaving Noah for so long. They had actually danced quite a few songs together, usually as part of a larger glee-group, when they first arrived, but both claimed that they didn't feel like dancing much once Rachel came back from performing her solo number. Hers was the first slow song of the night, and the mood between the two had shifted noticeably after that. Besides, when she left – she needed a break from him because when he was anywhere near her, when he was anywhere within her line of sight, really, her brain didn't work properly – Rory was singing a Buddy Holly song that would have been quite difficult to dance to anyway, and when she came out of the ladies' room Finn was singing and she wasn't about to go ask Noah to dance to Finn's song. Yeah – just, no. She honestly had started trying to slip away from Kurt when Finn ended his song, but then Mercedes walked up with that nice girl Hannah from biology and Rachel saw Sam taking the stage, and she knew Noah wouldn't want to dance to Justin Bieber anyway, so she decided to hang out just a little while longer.

"I got about three seconds to get you on that dance floor before Santana comes and chops off my manhood." Rachel stiffened a little when she first felt the pair of hands on her hips, but she'd recognize those hands, and that smell, and that _voice_ anywhere.

"Is that so?" She tapped her chin 'thoughtfully' with her forefinger and turned her gaze toward the ceiling, playfully refusing to turn and actually acknowledge him.

"Yeah," she shivered as he growled into her ear. "And I _like_ my manhood, so let's go.

Rachel shrieked a little when she felt him pulling her almost roughly from her friends, but she didn't protest, quickly passing off her purse to a laughing Mercedes. It wasn't until they were on the floor, Noah's arms wrapped comfortably around her waist and hers draped easily over his shoulders, that she realized what song they were dancing to. She tried to focus on the way Santana's voice sounded singing the words, raspy and deep and really quite good, and not on the words themselves. It's not as if she needed to listen to them anyway; she was more than familiar with the lyrics. And the fact that Santana and Brittany had walked in on her playing the song loudly on her iPod as she flipped through a stack of photos of her and Noah, that was just coincidence. Right? She buried her face in his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't see what was racing through her mind, what she knew had to be written all over her face.

**_I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before  
Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all,  
You never know if you never try  
To forget your past and simply be mine  
I dare you to let me be your, your one and only  
Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms  
So come on and give me the chance  
To prove that I'm the one who can  
Walk that mile until the end starts_ **

"You look really beautiful, ya know." Rachel froze when she felt Noah's lips brushing across her ear and heard his words, soft and almost soothing. "I guess pink really is your color." He chuckled, and she relaxed when she felt his arms tighten around her waist and his cheek fall against the side of her head.

"Thank you." She practically whispered the words into the exposed skin just above his collar, but when his right hand curled around her hip and squeezed briefly, she knew he had heard her.

Rachel was angry with herself, really, more than anything. She was acting like a silly little girl, not the grown, mature woman she was supposed to be in only a few short months. She hadn't been like this since the beginning of her infatuation with Finn. Really, if she was being truly honest with herself, she wasn't even this bad then, because at least then she was honest and basically straightforward about what she wanted, what she felt. But this thing, whatever it was, with Noah, had left her feeling hesitant, and unsure, and just plain terrified.

The really frustrating thing was, she didn't know what she was terrified of. Even now, with his arms around her and her head on his shoulder, she was a little surprised that he couldn't feel her trembling. There was no reason to be scared, she tried to tell herself, this was no big deal. It was just her and Noah, sharing a dance at prom as friends. Except that it wasn't. Since the moment she realized that the prospect of going to New York without Finn no longer broke her heart, all she could really think of was what it would be like to have Noah hold her and how that conversation might go when she told him about how she felt – about how she could be good enough for him and really make him happy if only he would give her the chance to prove that she could be _that girl._

Only now that it was happening for real, she couldn't get a grip, because while she was physically in his arms, she wasn't really _in his arms_. They were just there, just dancing because he was her friend and she wanted an even number of boys and girls for their little prom group. He was dancing with her; he wasn't holding her. And the longer she stood there, swaying and shuffling with him with her arms thrown over his shoulders (and when, exactly, did her hand sneak up into his hair?) and his arms secure and comforting around her waist, the harder she had to work to keep it together. But she _had_ to keep it together, because if she didn't he would figure out that something was wrong and he would question her about it and she would either have to come clean or lie to him, neither of which was a prospect she looked forward to.

Keeping it together got just a little more difficult when Puck turned them on the floor, moving them so that she was now facing Santana on the stage. Rachel shifted her head on his shoulder, repositioning it so that she could look at the girl singing, who was staring directly back at her as the words slipped over her lips.

**_Have I been on your mind  
You hang on every word I say  
Lose yourself in time  
At the mention of my name,  
Will I ever know  
How it feels to hold you close?  
And have you tell me  
'Whichever road I choose you'll go'_ **

Damn Santana. Damn her and her pushiness and her song lyrics that wouldn't let Rachel just _be_ and made her think. And really, it was quite unnerving the way she was hearing Santana's voice outside of her, singing _that_ song, and inside her head at the same time.

" _He's watchin' you again."_

" _Would you stop that!" Rachel spat over her shoulder, refusing to give Santana the satisfaction of turning to face her. She and Finn had been broken up for a grand total of, oh, about 20 hours, and Santana had spent roughly 10 of them (seriously, every waking second when they were in each other's presence, which Santana had ensured was more than usual for a weekday) telling her how Noah was watching her, or talking about her, or just generally thinking about her – although how Santana would know that, she really had no clue._

_Santana shrugged, even though she knew Rachel was too stubborn to turn around and therefore wouldn't see her. "Just sayin', B."_

" _Don't worry," Rachel did turn to her other side when she heard Brittany's voice, "you look way better than the last time you and Finn broke up. You know, not all red and puffy and stuff." Rachel heard Santana's snicker, but she gave the girl credit for at least trying to cover it up. That was progress._

If that one day had been the only thing, Rachel might not be in this predicament. Sure, she would still be almost painfully in-like (she _refused_ to use that other 'l' word, not yet, anyway) with her best (straight) guy friend, but she wouldn't be over analyzing the way his fingers brushed across the skin of her hip over the fabric of her dress or the way his breath fanned out across her cheek and neck every time he exhaled deeply.

" _So how was your little dance party with Asian? Other Asian?" Santana turned to Brittany, who only shrugged, before finally settling on, "Boy Asian."_

_Rachel rolled her eyes as she pulled a binder from her locker. "It wasn't a 'dance party' Santana, we were just helping each … Wait," she stilled her movement, turning to the other two girls abruptly, "how did you know about that? I didn't tell you."_

_Brittany and Santana looked at one another as if Rachel were the clueless one in this little trio. (Ok, so maybe she wasn't always as up-to-date as Santana, but she_ knew _she had the advantage over Brittany.) "Me and Britts were spyin' on Puckerman spyin' on you." Rachel huffed but Brittany cut in before she could say anything._

" _He was watching you do this cute little twirly thing in glee, I really like your white panties with the pink and purple stars by the way," Rachel gasped and covered her mouth with one hand, "and the guys were all talking about going to Artie's house to play with Angels -,"_

" _Angels?" Rachel mouthed at Santana._

_Santana mouthed back, "Halo," and Rachel bit her lip to suppress a giggle._

" _-but Mike said he couldn't go because he was going to help you dance and you were going to help him sing."_

" _And as soon as Chang said your name, Puckerman checked out. Seriously, it was like the lights were on, but nobody was home."_

She didn't want to put too much into anything Santana said, like, _ever_. She was smart girl; she knew how bad of an idea that was. But there were times when she couldn't help but wonder about some of these 'theories' of Santana's. And right now, well, right now her body was pressed tight against Noah's and his hands just kept rubbing across her back, and she kept remembering Santana's words. There was all that, combined with the fact that she was no longer with a boy who was very sweet but didn't want the same things she did and just wasn't _right_ for her.

"I broke up with Finn." She didn't even lift her head from his shoulder as she spoke.

"I know."

**_I don't know why I'm scared 'cause I've been here before  
Every feeling every word, I've imagined it all,  
You never know if you never try  
To forget your past and simply be mine  
I dare you to let me be your, your one and only  
I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms  
So come on and give me the chance  
To prove that I'm the one who can  
Walk that mile until the end starts_ **

It wasn't as if she expected him to be surprised. Really, she would have found it a little off-putting if he thought she and Finn were still together while she brought him to prom and subsequently watched as Finn danced every song with Quinn. (She had expected that, though she still didn't think that the pair would make it for the long haul – they were one another's human version of comfort food; great to make you feel better when you're down, but really bad for you if you have too much.) Somehow, though, saying it out loud seemed to change things, to make everything so much _more_.

Rachel tried not to think too much of it when she felt herself being pulled just a little closer to Puck's warm, solid body. The fact of the matter was, she hadn't thought they could really get closer than they already were, but now that they had, she told herself he was just comforting her. He had to think that the break-up had been hard on her. It had, but only because Finn was a very sweet person, and though she knew they weren't right for each other, it still hurt her to hurt him.

"Ya doin' ok?" Right. Comforting her.

She tried to speak, but just about the time she opened her mouth to answer him, she felt a hard knot in her stomach and a slight lump forming in her throat. Unwilling to let him know about either, she only nodded against his shoulder.

"Good." He kept his left hand on her hip, but ran the right one up and down her back a few times before letting it rest between her bare shoulder blades. "I mean, I guess you knew all along, right?" It was obvious that Puck was trying to keep the conversation private, even in the crowded gym. He talked close to Rachel's ear, speaking so quietly that no one except her could hear him over Santana's voice. "He never really planned to go to New York, and you never _stopped_ planning for it."

And there it was. Noah thought she broke up with Finn because he was planning on going to Ohio State's Lima campus and helping Burt run the tire shop since he had less time now that he was a state Congressman. That wasn't entirely incorrect, but that didn't make it true either. The real truth was, for the longest time she and Finn had said that they would do the long distance thing at least until they finished college, at which point Finn might have reconsidered his desire to stay in his hometown. (There was no point in even pretending that Rachel would change her feelings about New York.) They really were each other's first loves, and they let themselves believe for many months that meant things would work out, one way or another. But suddenly, because to Rachel it really did feel like she woke up one morning and everything felt different, she realized that the thought of going to New York without Finn no longer made her feel that dull ache in her chest or the painful lump in her throat.

In almost the same moment that Rachel realized first loves don't always last forever, she realized that while one sweet but simple boy didn't want to follow after her while she followed her dreams (and she was now strangely okay with that), there was another, not-always-so-sweet and always-complicated boy who might. Well, she wasn't looking so deeply into things that she thought he would actually want to follow _her_ , but she did know that he would be a much better fit for New York than Finn would, and that it was something he had actually thought seriously about.

Rachel was starting to feel dizzy, and it had nothing to do with the slow, lazy circles Puck was turning them in, keeping with the rhythm of the music and Santana's voice. For the first time since he had led her to the floor and wrapped his arms around her, Rachel lifted her head from Puck's shoulder and looked at his face. She was a little startled to find his eyes staring back at her. She noticed that they were darker than usual, almost all hints of green missing from the normal hazel shade.

It was too much. All of it was just too much for her to handle. Feeling her chest tighten to the point that she thought she might stop breathing any second, Rachel slid her hands around to the front of Puck's shoulders and pushed him away. She could see the confusion in every line of his face, but she could only shake her head in return. She tried to apologize, but when she opened her mouth it was dry and nothing came out, so instead she turned on her heel and ran from the gym as quickly as she could in four-inch heels and a dress with several layers of tulle.

**_I know it ain't easy  
Giving up your heart  
I know it ain't easy  
Giving up your heart  
(Nobody's perfect)  
I know it ain't easy,  
(Trust me I've learnt it)  
Giving up your heart  
(Nobody's perfect)  
I know it ain't easy,  
(Trust me I've learnt it)  
Giving up your heart  
I know it ain't easy  
Giving up your heart_ **

' _Breathe, in and out. Good girl.'_ Rachel mentally recited to herself the words that her daddies used to say to her – words that helped calm her when she was very young and had stage fright, or when she was a bit older and got her feelings hurt by a spiteful word from a classmate, or then when she was even older and felt like her heart was smashing into a million pieces. She tried not to think about how, for the past several years, Noah had been somehow tangled up in the reasons behind those words more often than not. But tonight – tonight he wasn't just a part, just a string in the knot that had formed in her stomach and made her run from the gym so that she could barely hear Santana's voice floating through the halls; tonight he was the whole twisted ball. Everything about this – from her labored breathing to her racing heart to her shaking hands – was all Noah.

Rachel was so focused on not thinking about him as she stood – her back pressed against his locker and her eyes squeezed shut and her hands clutching at the shimmering pink material covering her stomach – that she completely missed it when Puck careened around the corner, his rented dress shoes sliding precariously on the tile floor. She had no idea that he was in the hall at all until he spoke.

"What the hell Rach? I been lookin' everywhere for you. I went to the choir room, the auditorium, your locker – hell, I even checked all the girls' bathrooms. Let's ignore for a minute the fact that you just ran out and left me standin' on the dance floor like a freakin' chump, what're you doin' hidin' out here?"

She tried not to let him see how he'd startled her, catching her breath quickly and letting it back out slowly. "I feel safe here." She still hadn't opened her eyes.

"At my locker?" Puck didn't even try to mask his bewilderment.

Rachel nodded. "Yes," she opened her eyes slowly. "So many times I've been hurt, or downright broken, and I've come here, and you've – you've fixed me."

Puck reached out to her, letting his fingertips ghost over her cheek before taking both of her hands in his. "So … do you wanna tell me what the problem is then? Although, I gotta be honest here Rach, I'm a little worried I won't be able to fix it this time 'cause I'm the one you're hidin' from." He took a step closer to her, letting their hands fall, more relaxed, between them. He still didn't let her go, possibly tangling their fingers even more tightly together.

She stared back at him for a long moment, noticing how his eyes were greener out there in the dark hallway than they had been in the gym, before finally dropping her eyes to study their hands. "I-I didn't break up with Finn because he wouldn't go to New York with me." She waited for a reaction, looking back up at him when she felt that an eternity had passed and nothing had happened. He was still standing just as he had been, but his jaw was a little more set and his nostrils seemed to flare a little as he breathed. "I broke up with him …" _'Breathe, in and out. Good girl.'_ "Because I didn't want him to go. Not … anymore, anyway."

"Look, I … I'm not sure I follow," Puck loosened his grip on one of her hands, releasing the other one altogether to run his own through his short hair. "And I sure as shit don't know what that has to do with you runnin' out on me. Did I do somethin'?"

Rachel really did feel bad. He looked sincerely concerned, and she didn't want to worry him unnecessarily. "No, no. Of course not Noah, you were being perf – a perfect gentleman. I just … it was too much." She pulled her other hand from his, using both of hers to push imaginary strands of hair behind her ears. She lowered her eyes again, quickly, because she couldn't stand the intensity that she felt with his eyes boring into hers.

"What was too much, B?" He wasn't letting her get away that easily. Rachel was his best friend; she had been for a while. If he hadn't done anything wrong, he was going to find out exactly what the problem was if he had to stand in that school hallway all night. He lifted her hands again and tugged her gently so that she pulled away from the lockers, nearly falling against him because he surprised her and she lost her balance on her heels.

"I …," Rachel hesitated. "You," she finally stated, her voice steady and even, matter-of-fact.

Puck stared her down, still as confused as before. In one breath she was telling him that he had done nothing wrong, that he was a 'perfect gentleman' (no one had accused him of _that one_ before), and in the next she was telling him that she ran away from him because he was 'too much.' "Rach, you're gonna have to -,"

"Noah, can I …" She surprised him by cutting him off. He waited, watching her expectantly.

At this point, the best way really was just to get it out there. Quick like a band-aid, right? "Can I be your one and only?"

"I … uh … what?"

"Noah, when I think of my future, myself, in New York, it's not Finn that I see there with me. He's not right for New York, not right for _me_. But you, you would thrive there, maybe even more than me at times. And I know we've had our ups and downs, and sometimes I make you want to, what was it, 'light yourself on fire?'" Puck chuckled in spite of himself. "But Noah, I promise you, I _promise_ ," she was squeezing his hands now, clutching at him, and tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes as she stared up at him, "I can be good to you. I can be good _for_ you. An-and, I'll be there with you, not behind you but beside you, every step of the way, no matter what you do, no matter what you need. Just please, Noah, please give me one chance to prove that to you –,"

Puck didn't think she even realized that he had let go of her hand and slid his now-free one around her waist and onto the small of her back. She didn't even pause her speech when he tugged a little and she instinctively took a step forward, closing the gap between them by a few inches.

" – to _prove_ that I can be the one for you. And I know you're not a big fan of monogamy, but I also know that when you are someone's boyfriend, you're an amazing one. I'm just asking you to … oomph." Rachel only stopped talking because a warm hand covered her mouth.

"Ya finished?" Rachel's eyes widened and she nodded her head a little, as much as possible with his hand still clamped over her mouth. "Good. My turn." He slid his hand off her mouth to cup her cheek. "I coulda told ya a year ago that Hudson wasn't right for you. I love the guy, really – he's like my brother, but he's Ohio and you're New York, and if you'da let him change that, I mighta never spoke to either of you again." Puck worked his hand from her cheek and into her hair. "As for all the rest 'a that stuff," he leaned his forehead down against hers, "you don't needa convince me of any of it. I already know all that about you. I'm just glad you figured all this shit out on your own. I mean, I'da made you realize it eventually," he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned down to speak into her ear, "I'm takin' my ass to New York in the fall too, and I can be _very_ convincing." He smirked to himself when he saw her shiver, pulling away to speak to her normally again, "But it's better this way."

Rachel had a million and one things running through her mind, but for the life of her, it was impossible to focus on any of it when Noah had one hand on the small of her back and the other tangled in her hair and he was staring down at her that way. ' _Breathe, in and out. Good girl._ ' She swallowed heavily before speaking. "So, does this mean …?"

Puck leaned down to kiss her softly, sweetly on the lips. "All that other stuff, the other people- placeholders. Just passin' the time. You were always gonna be my one and only, Rach."

**_So I dare you to let me be your, your one and only  
I promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms  
So come on and give me the chance  
To prove I'm the one who can  
Walk that mile until the end starts  
Come on and give me a chance  
To prove that I'm the one who can  
Walk that mile until the end starts._ **

 


End file.
